Cyclone dust collecting apparatus for vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

A cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner is disclosed. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus for the vacuum cleaner includes a cyclone body having an air inflow port and air outflow port, for forming a vortex air current of contaminant-laden air drawn in through the air inflow port, a dust receptacle removably connected to the cyclone body for receiving dusts and contaminants separated from the air. A grill disposed inside the cyclone body helps to prevent the flow of the dust and contaminants separated from the air through the air outflow port. The grill can rotate and can also include sloped air path members.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and moreparticularly to a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleanerfor separating and collecting dusts and contaminants fromcontaminant-laden air with a centrifugal force that is formed bygenerating an air vortex.

[0003] 2. Background of the Related Art

[0004]FIGS. 1 and 2 are exemplary views schematically showing a cyclonedust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner.

[0005] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a reference numeral 100 representsthe cyclone dust collecting apparatus, 200 represents a cleaner body and300 represents a cleaner brush (not shown in FIG. 1). The cyclone dustcollecting apparatus 100 comprises a cyclone body 10, a dust receptacle20 and a grill 30.

[0006] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cyclone body includes an airinflow pipe 11 and an air outflow pipe 12. The air inflow pipe 11 isconnected with an air inflow port (not shown) at one side of the cyclonebody 10. The air inflow pipe 11 is connected to an air inflow path 210configured to be in fluid communication with a suction port (not shown)of the suction brush 300, when the cyclone dust collecting apparatus isinstalled in the cleaner body 200. The air outflow pipe 12 is connectedto an air outflow port (not shown) at a top of the cyclone body 10. Theair outflow pipe 12 is connected to an air outflow path 220 configuredto fluid-communicate with a motor driving chamber 310 of the suctionbrush 300, when the cyclone dust collecting apparatus is installed inthe cleaner body 200. The contaminant-laden air is drawn in by thesuction brush 300 into the cyclone body 10 in a tangential directionthrough the air inflow path 210 of the cleaner body 200 and air inflowpipe 11. The drawn air forms a vortex air current in the cyclone body 10and thus the dust and contaminants are separated from thecontaminant-laden air by a centrifugal force of the vortex air, wherebythe clean air is discharged externally via the air outflow path 220 ofthe cleaner body 200 and the motor chamber 310.

[0007] The dust receptacle 20 is removably connected to a bottom of thecyclone body 10 and receives the dusts and contaminants separated fromthe air by the centrifugal force of the vortex air current in thecyclone body 10.

[0008] The grill 30 is disposed at an opening of the air outflow pipe 12inside the cyclone body 10 to prevent the dust and contaminantsseparated from the vortex air from flowing through the air outflow pipe12. As shown in FIG. 2, grill 30 includes a grill body 31 and aplurality of air paths 32 disposed at an outer circumference of thegrill body 31 that allow air to flow to air outflow pipe 12.

[0009] The general cyclone dust collecting apparatus as described aboveis installed in the cleaner body 200 such that the air inflow pipe 11and the air outflow pipe 12 of the cyclone body 10 are respectivelyconnected to the air inflow path 210 and the air outflow path 220 of thecleaner body 200.

[0010] In operation, a suction force is generated at the suction brush300 driven by a motor in the motor chamber 310. The generated suctionforce draws the contaminant-laden air on a cleaning surface into thecyclone body 10 through the suction brush 300, air inflow path 210 andair inflow pipe 11. The drawn air is led through the air inflow pipe 11along an inner circumference of the cyclone body 10 in an obliquedirection to form a vortex air current. Dust and contaminants in the airare separated by the centrifugal force generated by the vortex aircurrent and are collected in the dust receptacle 20. The clean air isdischarged externally through the air paths 32, air outflow pipe 12, airoutflow path 220 and motor chamber 310.

[0011] However, the general cyclone dust collecting apparatus asdescribed above has a problem of degrading the cleaning efficiency.Related cyclone dust collecting devices failed to retain a satisfactoryamount of dust and allowed dust and contaminants to be discharged withthe outflow of the air through the air path 32 in the grill 30.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An object of the invention is to solve at least the aboveproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below.

[0013] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve theforegoing problems by providing a cyclone dust collecting apparatus fora vacuum cleaner capable of maximizing the separation of clean air fromcontaminated air by rotating a grill that assists in preventing dustfrom escaping a dust collection apparatus.

[0014] The foregoing and other objects and advantages are realized byproviding a cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleanercomprising: a cyclone body having an air inflow port and air outflowport, for forming a vortex air current of contaminant-laden air drawn inthrough the air inflow port; a dust receptacle removably connected tothe cyclone body for receiving dust and contaminants separated from theair by a centrifugal force of the vortex air current in the cyclonebody; a grill disposed to the air outflow port inside the cyclone bodyfor preventing dust and contaminants separated from the air through theair outflow port; and a grill rotation supporting means for supportingthe grill to rotate by the vortex air current in the cyclone body.

[0015] The cyclone body comprises: a cylindrical main body having a sidesurface on which the air inflow port is formed and a upper surface onwhich the air outflow port is formed; and a cover removably connected tothe upper surface of the cylindrical main body, wherein an air inflowpipe connected to an air inflow path of a cleaner man body is disposedto the air inflow port and an air outflow pipe connected to an airoutflow path of the cleaner body is disposed to about a center of thecover.

[0016] The cylindrical main body and cover are removably connected toeach other through spiral connecting mechanisms respectively formed oncorresponding surfaces of each other for connection.

[0017] The grill comprises: a grill body; and a plurality of air pathmembers disposed at an outer circumference of the grill body in apredetermined slope angle to form an air passage to the air outflowport.

[0018] Preferably, the grill may further comprise: a contaminantblocking member disposed at a lower portion of the grill body.

[0019] The grill rotation supporting means comprises: a supportingmember supported to be disposed at the center of the air outflow port ofthe cylindrical main body by a plurality of ribs protruding from aninner surface of the air outflow port; and a rotating member having oneend rotatably supported by interposing a bearing and other end driventhrough the grill to be screwed to a lower portion of the grill.

[0020] According to the cyclone dust collecting apparatus in accordancewith the invention, a fine dust filter assembly is provided between theupper surface of the cylindrical main body and cover to filter finedusts.

[0021] The fine dust filter assembly comprises: a fine dust filter; anda filter frame having a lower part of grid structure, for receiving andsupporting the fine dust filter.

[0022] Preferably, the upper surface of the cylindrical main body isformed to slope down from outside toward inside.

[0023] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the inventionwill be set forth in part in the description which follows and in partwill become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realizedand attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention will be described in detail with reference to thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements wherein:

[0025]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventionalcyclone dust collecting apparatus and an associated vacuum cleaner;

[0026]FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view the cyclone dust collectingapparatus of FIG. 1 after assembly and installation;

[0027]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a cyclone dustcollecting apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the inventionbefore assembly;

[0028]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing the cyclone dustcollecting apparatus of FIG. 3 after assembly; and

[0029]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the cyclone dustcollecting apparatus of FIG. 3 prior to installation in a cleaner.

[0030]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional top view of the cyclone dustcollecting apparatus of FIG. 3, taken along line 6-6.

[0031]FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an air path member of the cyclonedust collecting apparatus of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a cyclone dust collecting apparatusfor a vacuum cleaner in accordance with an embodiment of the inventioncomprises a cyclone body 50, a dust receptacle 60, a grill 70 and agrill rotation supporting means 80.

[0033] The cyclone body 50 includes a cylindrical main body 51 and acover 52 removably connected to the cylindrical main body 51.Cylindrical main body 51 includes a side surface 51 a and an uppersurface 51 b. At one side of side surface 51 a is formed an air inflowport, and at about a center of the upper surface 51 b is formed an airoutflow port. An air inflow pipe 53 is connected to the air inflow port,which is also connected to an air inflow path 210 (see FIG. 5) of acleaner main body 200. An air outflow pipe 54 is connected to the airoutflow port at about the center of the cover 52, which is alsoconnected to an air outflow path 220 (see FIG. 5) of the cleaner mainbody 200.

[0034] In operation, contaminant-laden air is drawn by a suction brush300 (see FIG. 5) into the cyclone body 50 in a tangential directionthrough the air inflow path 210 and air inflow pipe 53. In this process,a vortex air current is formed in the cyclone body 50, and the dust andcontaminants included in the vortex air are separated from the air bythe centrifugal force of the vortex air and thus the clean air isdischarged externally through the air outflow pipe 54, the air outflowpath 220 and a motor driving chamber 310 (see FIG. 5).

[0035] The dust receptacle 60 is removably connected to a bottom of thecyclone body 50 and receives the dusts and contaminants separated fromthe air by the vortex air current in the cyclone body 50. The dustreceptacle 60 may include a handle for enabling easy handling. When thedust receptacle 60 is filled up, the dust receptacle 60 may be separatedfrom cyclone body 50 to empty the dust receptacle 60.

[0036] The grill 70 is disposed at the air outflow port in the cyclonebody 50 to assist in separating dust and contaminants separated from thevortex air from flowing through the air outflow port. Grill 70 includesa grill body 31 and a plurality of air path members 72 disposed in anouter circumference of the grill body 71 that form air passages to theair outflow port.

[0037] In some embodiments, the grill rotation supporting means 80includes a supporting member 81 and a rotating member 82. The supportingmember 81 is disposed at a center of the air outflow port of thecylindrical main body 51 and is supported by a plurality of ribs 81 aprotruding from an inner surface of the air outflow port. The rotatingmember 82 has one end rotatably supported by interposing a bearing. Theother end extends through the grill 70 and is fixed to grill 70 at alower portion of grill 70 by a screw 84. The grill 70 thus rotates withthe rotating member 82 with respect to the supporting member 81 by thevortex air current formed in the cyclone body 50. The rotation of thegrill 70 helps to prevent the flow of the dust and contaminants throughthe air passage of the grill 70.

[0038] In the cyclone dust collecting apparatus 70 according to theinvention, the grill 70 may be adapted to include a grill body 71, aplurality of air path members 72 disposed in a predetermined slope angleto form an air passage to the air outflow port and a contaminantblocking member 73 disposed at a lower portion of the grill body 71.

[0039]FIGS. 6 and 7 show, in detail, the preferred slope angle and itsrelationship to the vortex air current. Contaminant-laden air 302 isdrawn through air inflow pipe 53 in a tangential direction. As discussedabove, this causes the formation of a vortex air flow 304 withincylindrical main body 51. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, vortex airflow 304 revolves within cylindrical main body 51 in a clockwisedirection.

[0040] Preferably, air path members 72 are disposed on grill body 71 ina manner that minimizes the chance that dust or other contaminants willenter through grill 70. FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of two adjacentair path members 312 and 314. Air path member 314 has a leading edge 316and a trailing edge 318. Leading edge 316 is the first edge of air pathmember 314 to encounter vortex air flow 304. In other words, leadingedge 316 is upstream of trailing edge 318. Preferably, leading edge 316is attached to grill body 71 and trialing edge 318 is disposed bothradially outward of and circumferentially downstream of leading edge316.

[0041] With this arrangement, a slope angle 310 is formed. Slope angle310 is the angle between a local tangential line 308 and air path member314. Local tangential line 308 is a line perpendicular to a ray 306extending from the geometric center of grill 70 to air path member 314.Any air path member that has a slope angle is said to be sloped. Thisslope angle 310 can be adjusted to suit various design objectives. Forexample, if the slope angle 310 were reduced, that would increase theability of grill 70 to separate contaminants from the air, but wouldalso increase the power required to draw air though grill 70. If theslope angle 310 were increased, that would decrease the separationefficiency of grill 70, but less power would be required to draw airthrough grill 70. Given these various factors, an appropriate slopeangle can be selected that best suits particular design objectives.

[0042] The grill rotation feature and the sloped air path feature can beused alone or in combination with one another.

[0043] As best seen in FIG. 4, the contaminant blocking member 73 is afrustum-cone shape with an enlarged lower part of which diameterincreases along downward direction. This shape may cause thecontaminants collected in the dust receptacle 60 that have floated in anupwardly moving air current to be redirected by the contaminant blockingmember 73, thereby to fall into the dust receptacle 60.

[0044] The cyclone dust collecting apparatus for the vacuum cleaner inaccordance with the invention is further provided with a fine dustfilter assembly 90 interposed between the cylindrical main body 51 andcover 52 of the cyclone body 50 to filter the fine dust that are notremoved by the grill 70.

[0045] The fine dust filter assembly 90 includes a fine dust filter 91such as a sponge or other porous material and a filter frame 92 having alower grid structure, for receiving and supporting the fine dust filter91. The fine dust filter assembly 90 filters the fine dust passedthrough the grill 70 and prevents this fine dust from escapingcylindrical main body 51. The upper surface 51 b is preferably formed toslope downward from the radially outer periphery toward a centralportion so that the fine dust filtered by the fine dust filter assembly90 falls down to dust receptacle 60 instead of remaining between theupper surface 51 b of the cylindrical main body 51 and the fine dustfilter assembly 90.

[0046] The above described cyclone dust collecting apparatus for avacuum cleaner can be installed in cleaner body 200, as shown in FIG. 5,so that the air inflow pipe 53 and the air outflow pipe 54 of thecyclone body 50 are respectively connected to the air inflow path 210and the air outflow path 220 of cleaner body 200.

[0047] In operation, a suction force is generated at the suction brush300 driven by a motor (not shown) in motor chamber 310. The generatedsuction force draws contaminant-laden air on a cleaning surface into thecyclone body 50 through the suction brush 300, air inflow path 210 andair inflow pipe 53. The drawn air is led through the air inflow pipe 53along an inner circumference of the cyclone body 50 in an obliquedirection. This helps to form a vortex air current, and the dust andcontaminants in the air are separated by the centrifugal force generatedby the vortex and collected in dust receptacle 60. Thereafter, the cleanair is discharged externally through the air passage of the grill 70,air outflow pipe 54, air outflow path 220 and through motor chamber 310.Given this arrangement, dust and contaminants rarely escape through airpassages of the grill 70. However, even if the fine dust, which are notseparated by the grill 70, are discharged through the air passage of thegrill 70, the fine dust is secondly filtered by the fine dust filterassembly 90 (see FIG. 4), thereby improving the amount of dustcollected.

[0048] According to the invention described above, the dust andcontaminants are separated from the air by the centrifugal force whilethe grill rotates to prevent the flow of the dust and contaminantsthrough the grill, thus the dust and contaminants hardly flow throughair passages of the grill.

[0049] Further, even if the fine dusts flow through the air passage ofthe grill, the fine dusts are secondly filtered by the fine dust filterassembly, thereby improving the quality of collecting the dusts and alsoimproving the efficiency of the cleaning.

[0050] While the invention has been shown and described with referenceto certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

[0051] The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary andare not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The presentteaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Thedescription of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, andnot to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications,and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In theclaims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structuresdescribed herein as performing the recited function and not onlystructural equivalents but also equivalent structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuumcleaner comprising: a cyclone body having an air inflow port and airoutflow port, adapted to form a vortex air current of contaminant-ladenair drawn in through the air inflow port; a dust receptacle removablyconnected to the cyclone body configured to receive dust andcontaminants separated from the air by a centrifugal force of the vortexair current in the cyclone body; a grill disposed about the air outflowport inside the cyclone body for preventing flow of the dust andcontaminants separated from the air through the air outflow port; and agrill rotation supporting means for supporting the grill to rotate bythe vortex air current in the cyclone body.
 2. The cyclone dustcollecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cyclone bodycomprises: a cylindrical main body having a side surface on which theair inflow port is formed and a upper surface on which the air outflowport is formed; and a cover removably connected to the upper surface ofthe cylindrical main body, wherein an air inflow pipe is configured toconnect to an air inflow path of a cleaner main body, and an air outflowpipe is configured to connect to an air outflow path of the cleanerbody, the air outflow also pipe being disposed about a center of thecover.
 3. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the cylindrical main body and cover are removably connected toeach other through spiral connecting mechanisms respectively formed oncorresponding surfaces of each other for connection.
 4. The cyclone dustcollecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grill comprises:a grill body; and a plurality of air path members disposed at an outercircumference of the grill body in a predetermined slope angle to forman air passage to the air outflow port.
 5. The cyclone dust collectingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grill comprises: a grillbody; a plurality of air path members disposed at an outer circumferenceof the grill body in a predetermined slope angle to form an air passageto the air outflow port; and a contaminant blocking member disposed at alower portion of the grill body.
 6. The cyclone dust collectingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grill rotation supportingmeans comprises: a supporting member disposed at the center of the airoutflow port of the cylindrical main body by a plurality of ribsprotruding from an inner surface of the air outflow port; and a rotatingmember having a first end rotatably supported by interposing a bearing,and a second end extending through the grill and secured to a lowerportion of the grill.
 7. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus accordingto claim 2, wherein a fine dust filter assembly is provided between theupper surface of the cylindrical main body and cover to filter finedust.
 8. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim 7,wherein the fine dust filter assembly comprises: a fine dust filter; anda filter frame having a lower grid structure, for receiving andsupporting the fine dust filter.
 9. The cyclone dust collectingapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the upper surface of thecylindrical main body slopes downward from a radially outer peripherytowards a central portion.
 10. A cyclone dust collecting apparatusadapted for use with a vacuum cleaner comprising: a cyclone body havingan air inflow port and air outflow port, adapted to form a vortex aircurrent of contaminant-laden air drawn in through the air inflow port; adust receptacle removably connected to the cyclone body configured toreceive dust and contaminants separated from the air; a grill disposedproximate the air outflow port and inside the cyclone body; the grillincluding at least one air path member; and wherein the air path memberis sloped.
 11. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim10, wherein a leading edge of the air path member is disposed radiallyinward of a trailing edge of the air path member.
 12. The cyclone dustcollecting apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the grill rotates.13. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim 12, whereinthe vortex air current rotates the grill in a direction similar to arotational direction of the vortex air current.
 14. The cyclone dustcollecting apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising arotating member having a first end including a bearing and a second endrigidly associated with the grill.
 15. The cyclone dust collectingapparatus according to claim 14, wherein the bearing is also associatedwith a supporting member that is attached to the cyclone body.
 16. Acyclone dust collecting apparatus adapted for use with a vacuum cleanercomprising: means for forming a vortex air current of contaminant-ladenair; means for receiving dust and contaminants separated from the air bya centrifugal force of the vortex air current; and means for rotating agrill disposed within a cyclone body.
 17. The cyclone dust collectingapparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a means forsupporting the rotating grill.
 18. The cyclone dust collecting apparatusaccording to claim 16, further comprising a means for filtering finedust.
 19. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim 16,further comprising a means for dropping fine dust into a dustreceptacle.
 20. The cyclone dust collecting apparatus according to claim16, further comprising a means for minimizing flowing past the rotatinggrill.